


Be The Change You Wish To See

by multifandommania



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: BAMF Remus Lupin, Bisexual Remus Lupin, F/M, Grief/Mourning, M/M, POV Remus Lupin, Remus Lupin Needs a Hug, Remus Lupin-centric, Slow Burn, Strong Female Characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:21:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25527373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/multifandommania/pseuds/multifandommania
Summary: What if someone actually realised the untapped potential that is Remus Lupin? What if someone actually stepped up to guide the magical world into some kind of progress as a mature adult, rather than leave the weight of those responsibilities to the hands of literal children?
Relationships: Remus Lupin/Original Female Character(s), Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, past Sirius Black/Remus Lupin - Relationship
Comments: 3
Kudos: 10





	Be The Change You Wish To See

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story that I've always wanted to read, but to my knowledge, no one actually wrote. Hope you guys like it. Past Sirius/Remus will be explored more in later chapters.
> 
> Also, if someone can help come up with a better summary, do tell. I'm always trash at writing them.

Remus Lupin nursed the bottle of firewhiskey that he was holding closer to his chest as the ancient-looking grandfather clock chimed. Two more hours and Remus would be living in a new year which his closest friends would never see-- Black didn’t count.

Even though it has been exactly two months since the passing of James and Lily on that fateful Halloween night, his chest and his soul still ached with visceral pain. All the hurt that was supposed to feel when he learned that James and Lily did not trust him with the knowledge of the Fidelius Charm they had placed upon their house in Godric’s Hollow never came because his friends needed to be alive for him to get mad at them. 

The grief that he felt upon learning that his friends had been betrayed so cruelly, had been murdered so heartlessly, eclipsed any other trivial and petty feelings he would have been feeling otherwise. But it would be simply untrue that the emotional agony he was experiencing was solely due to his friends’ deaths. Remus felt disgusted that he had actually liked Padf- Black, in a romantic sense. They were both almost at the start of a romantic relationship, at the end of dancing around each other as Prongs loved to put it, when Black had shown his true colours in the worst way possible.

Gods, he was such a fool to fall for Black’s tricks. How hilarious must it have been for Black to see Remus make an absolute fool of himself for years. And what was worse was that, even knowing that it had all been a cruel act of Black’s part, there were still moments when Remus would still achingly long for Sirius, then be disgusted at himself for being so weak.

Remus’ train of thought was sharply cut off by the loud knocking on his front door. His vision slightly hazy from his alcohol intake, Remus sloppily placed the firewhiskey bottle on the coffee table in front of him. Momentarily he wondered if he should change out of his tattered dull grey pajamas with a couple of scattered small holes, and into something more appropriate to meet another person, but he didn’t care enough to do so. Thus, he pushed himself off from his ratty two seater couch and stumbled towards the front door. Turning the door knob, he opened the door to find a woman standing on his dusty doorstep.

Her face looked vaguely familiar to him, as if he had seen her in passing somewhere. She was taller than the average woman, the crown of her head would reach Remus’ cheekbones should she be standing right next to him. Her pale heart shaped face was framed by jet black hair in loose curls. She was wearing a long ash grey winter coat, coupled with dark blue, flat boots to cope with harsh winds and cold weather.

Remus’ examination of the woman was cut short by her introduction.

“Hello. My name is Veronica Stewart. You may not recognise me, but I was in Ravenclaw, and a year below you during your time at Hogwarts. Could I come in? I have a few personal matters I wish to discuss with you,” Stewart asked politely.

Remus quickly acquiesced as the cold winter wind became uncomfortable to unbearable in the mere matter of moments. At least the cold allowed him to become sober much quicker. He stepped aside to let her walk past him and he gently closed the front door. He turned around just in time to see her freeze at the entry to his living room.

Remus quickly tralied after her to see what stopped her in her tracks. As soon as he stood beside her, he noticed the cause. Trying, yet failing, to fight off a blush, Remus stammered, “Ah, I’m… I’m terribly sorry! I didn’t notice how unkempt the room was becoming.”

That was the definition of an understatement. His fireplace was pathetically producing sparks as he had forgotten to keep the fire going. His coffee table, his trash can and the area around it was filled to the brim with the occasional empty firewhiskey bottle and many cheap muggle beer bottles. The air was stale and stunk of beer from Remus not letting the windows open every once in a while. And this was just the start of a long list on how terrible the room was.

Surprisingly, without missing a beat, Stewart gave a sympathetic smile and said, “I understand. What happened was tragic. I’m the one at fault for approaching you this early during your period of mourning. I apologise.”

Taken aback, all Remus could do was nod his head gently. Regaining his bearings, he rekindled the fire at the fireplace, quickly cast a vanishing charm at the empty bottles, cleaning charming at the table and couch and freshening charm to make the room smell better.

Discreetly, he also cast a freshening charm on himself. “Please, take a seat,” Remus said, as he motioned his hand towards the couch he had previously occupied, as he himself took the rickety wooden chair directly opposite her, with his small coffee table between them. With the fireplace emitting a comforting heat towards his left and her right, Veronica removed her coat as she sat down, revealing a cozy looking white knitted sweater and dark blue denim jeans, and hung it upon the back of the couch.

If Remus had nothing but cheap beer bottles and very possibly, expired food items, he would have offered her something to eat or drink. But he didn’t, so he took the opportunity to start the conversation.

“Ms. Stewart, you said you were here on a personal matter, so can I find out how you know of my address?”

If Stewart was taken aback by the lack of pleasantries on Remus’ end, she didn’t let it show. She simply crossed her legs and rested her hands, fingers threaded together, on her knees.

“Please, call me Veronica. Your whereabouts are quite well hidden. Firstly, I took note of the bars you presumably spotted at from some credible sources, and paid them a visit. When I finally reached the Hogs’ Head, I met the acquaintance of Aberforth Dumbledore. After talking for a while with him, I came to the conclusion that he may be less of a stranger to you than any other I’ve met during my search for you, and I took a gamble. I explained to him the goal of my meeting with you today and he sent me away with your address,” Veronica replied.

Remus let out a tired sigh as he slouched and lightly pinched the bridge of his nose. For the most part, he forgot that the man he had become close to during the course of the war was the Headmaster’s brother, but times like these were quick to remind him of that little fact. It seemed like all Dumbledores liked to meddle with other people’s lives when they least needed to.

“Alright, please let me hear what you would like to say,” Rumus answered.

“To put it frankly Mr. Lupin, I know about your rather… lupine nature,”, Veronica started off, quite like a bull in a china shop.

Remus sat up straight, back straining almost painfully as he was overcome with shock. His hands grasped his knees tightly, his knuckles bone white.

“How… What, what are you talking about!” Remus somehow stuttered and exclaimed simultaneously.

Veronica swiftly uncrossed her legs, leaned slightly forward as she turned her palms towards him to look as unthreatening as possible. Gently, she replied, “Let me start off by saying that I hold no prejudice about your… condition. No one told me about it, and neither have I told a soul. I figured it out during my fifth year at Hogwarts. I even threw off some of my other housemates, whom I judged would treat you… less pleasantly should they learn the truth, off your trail regarding this issue. So, let me reiterate, I will neither discriminate against you being a werewolf, nor will I disclose this secret to any other.”

Remus was still rooted to his seat, the discomfort of his chair has never been more apparent as he became more sensitive to his environment. His furry little secret, as James had called it, was something that had put so much effort into hiding from the rest of the world. And for it to be exposed so carelessly, so unexpectedly, had caused Remus to feel completely blindsided.

“I don’t know what you are insinuating, but I don’t think that we are on the same page here,” Remus remarked, his voice cracking slightly on the last word, reflecting the tension he felt.

“Alright, I know this must be hard to acknowledge to a complete stranger, so I’ll try to give you… proof. Your sixth year at Hogwarts, Snape started to act overtly hostile towards you and your friends on the same day your little exclusive clique started to ignore Black. I noticed that the possibility of this happening on the day after the full moon, and not having anything to do with your condition to be rather low. So I assume that Snape had been made aware of your status by Black, in a rather dangerous manner? Am I right?”, Veronica asked, though it sounded less of a question and more of a statement to Remus’ ears.

Gods, he couldn’t believe that this was happening. Remus had thought about what he should do in case his dirty secret was exposed to the world, but that had been in the past when he believed that his friends would be there to help him through it. Thinking about his friends’ deaths left him near breathless in pain again.

He had to force himself to think about the more pressing issue here. He could attempt to obliviate the witch sitting in front of him regarding this issue. However, he knew next to nothing about her battle prowess, and if what she was saying about knowing since her fifth year at Hogwarts was true… then the knowledge would have been too intrinsically woven into her mind, much harder to remove, coupled with a high probability of significant brain damage. Remus was not a trained or talented obliviator. He didn’t know if he possessed that level of skill or control to ever attempt something that delicate.

He still did not trust this virtual stanger sitting opposite him, and her claims about not judging him or spreading the information to others, but it looks like he had little choice to choose otherwise.

“I don’t really have a choice but to take your word for it, now do I? Continue,” Remus admitted stiffly. 

“I’m sorry that I blurted it out tactlessly, but I needed to get that out of the way to explain what I want to say smoothly. Please bear with me, and you’ll soon understand why I started off like that,” Veronica replied back, showing the slightest sign of distress by unlocking and clenching her hands.

“It was a wonderful ice breaker. Please do carry on,” Remus said in a rather sarcastic tone. He was interrupted in the midst of him mourning his closest friends, with a stranger waltzing into his home and announcing without any warning that she knew of his deepest, darkest secret. And Remus couldn’t do anything because he was utterly powerless in this situation. So, if anyone had the right to be annoyed and a bit rude, it was him.

It seemed like Veronica agreed with his unvoiced thoughts as she carried on without any hesitation.

“I’m a half-blood. My father was a pureblood, more of a ‘blood-traitor’ as some would say, and my mum, a muggleborn. They met during their time at Hogwarts and the rest was history. My paternal grandparents had no other child other than my father, therefore, they had to accept my mother into their family if they didn’t want their wealth falling into the hands of their closest pureblood cousins. 

“I grew up in a primarily magical household, although my mother was adamant that I attend muggle school until I received my Hogwarts letter at age 11. Therefore, I had an elementary level understanding of muggle sciences, literature and critical thinking skills taught in all of Britain’s primary schools.

“This allowed me to possess some tools to identify the various discrimation occurring in the magical world. Although, at such a young age, the privilege I had by growing up in a magical household and my immaturity, my youth, prevented me from doing more than identifying such prejudice.

“It wasn’t until my father was killed by the Dark Lord’s supporters, for refusing to support and shell out money for that man’s cause, when I was in my sixth year at Hogwarts, did the discrimation prevalent in the magical world become so glaringly obvious to me. But, I couldn’t do anything about it due to the growing Dark Forces.

“After my graduation from Hogwarts, I went to the ministry to get my NEWT certificate converted to a GCE ‘A’ Level certificate. Each magical subject and the grade I obtained was converted to its closest muggle counterpart. Soon after, my mother and I moved to the muggle world, cutting any ties from the magical world. It was no longer safe for my mother in the magical world, considering her muggle-born status. Then, my introduction to the muggle education during primary school became very useful. I read up on the relevant muggle subjects and applied for university. Because at that point, I had no hopes of ever being able to return to the magical world, with the Dark Lord growing more powerful with each passing day.

“During my days at university, I gained a great deal of knowledge not only on academia, but also how the muggle society operates. The concept of meritocracy, a political system in which economic and political power are vested in individual people on the basis of talent, effort, and achievement, rather than wealth or social class. While not perfectly implemented in the muggle world, the society still follows these guidelines, making it far more just and fair compared to the magical world.

“Then there’s also laws regarding minimum wage, attempting to prevent labour exploitation; then there’s child protection laws, from which the magical world could quite frankly learn alot from. For example, it’s been only 2 months since the defeat of You-Know-Who, yet there’s at least twenty books published on the Boy-Who-Lived, all which anyone with half a brain cell can tell that it contains incorrect and ludicrous information.

“Gosh and don’t get me started on muggle academics. How far they have progressed in the past few decades is truly astonishing. Furthermore, during my recent 3 years stint in the muggle world, I probably thought of hundreds of new applications of muggle invention in the magical world. It could greatly benefit the magical world in more than one way.”

Veronica had started out trying to sound more formal, but by this point of her little speech, she was sounding more passionate and revealed more of her true character.

“Sorry to cut in. While it sounds great that you had these... revelations, but why are you telling me this?” Remus asked, genuinely baffled.

“Do you still not get it? I mean your Remus Lupin. Straight ‘O’ student for both the OWLs and the NEWTs. Prefect for 3 years during your time at Hogwarts. You deserved to be Head Boy and would have likely become Head Boy, if it wasn’t for Dumbledore’s matchmaking tendencies!” 

Veronica cut off Remus sharply when he tried to interject otherwise, “Don’t even try to deny it! It was glaringly obvious, even to the Slytherins.”

“I will not deny that the muggle world is imperfect, however, with your grades and impressive credentials, you would have a well-paying and well-respected job there, even if might not have been the best. My point is Mr. Lupin, would not be living in a shack on the verge of collapsing, living on minimum wage, scrambling to make enough to make the barest ends meet. So, I’m asking if you have ever felt the rage, the complete frustration at the prejudice directed at you, for something you cannot control?” Veronica fumed towards the end. 

At this point her tirade, the witch was sitting on the edge of her seat, hands wildly gesturing, attempting to emphasise her point and to express her emotions.

Remus felt stricken. If he had thought that Veronica had already hit the nail on its head with the werewolf revelation, he was proven to be very wrong. Because this witch had just spilled his deepest and darkest frustrations with complete accuracy.

This was a mental battle he had never been quite able to win. On most days, he could convince himself that he deserved the life he was living, because people said that werewolves were too dangerous to live amongst wizards. It was too risky to let them roam freely when they might lose their minds and turn others into a dark creature, could strip away another’s humanity. In fact, he was much luckier than others considering that he managed to hide away his status for so long, and had the privilege to attend Hogwarts.

But some days, even the slightest of things, like the mention of anti-werewolves protests in the Daily Prophet, the word ‘werewolf’ in a Weird Sisters’ song would set out the frustrations bottled deep inside him. Wasn’t he a wizard too? Wasn’t he just as normal on any day, other than on the night of the full moon? What was the point of attending Hogwarts if he was to be just as unemployed as any other uneducated magical person? Did his stellar grades and his effort amount to nothing, when others who barely passed are earning many times more than him?

But he couldn’t afford to think that way for too long. Then, he’ll always feel powerless, always feel bitter in the only world he knew off, one that wouldn’t hesitate to cast him aside without a second glance if the people came to know of the truth.

“Werewolves are dangerous, so I understand--”, Remus replied near monotonously, desperately attempting to keep his voice void of any of his conflicted emotions, before he was cut off by Veronica.

“Don’t parrot what the ignorant masses are saying! I don’t want to know their opinion, I already know that. I want to know of yours!” Veronica fumed back.

“Of course, I feel oppressed. Is that even a question? But what can I, a single person, do about it? I have no social status, no high-ranking job. I am powerless to make any changes in our society”, Remus seethed back, finally arriving at his breaking point.

“That’s where you’re wrong,” Veronica responded.

“What exactly are you trying to come at?”, Remus pleaded, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. He was slouched forward, with his elbows placed on top of his knees for support, showing how drained he was feeling at that moment.

“There’s a quote by a famous muggle named Gandhi,” Veronica slowly replied.

Remus was quite baffled. How did the previous conversation try up with a quote by a muggle? It seemed like Veronica understood his confusion, as her eyes implored him to keep listening.

“He said, ‘Be the change you wish to see in the world’. That’s exactly why I’ve come here today. I’m saying, come to the muggle world with me. Let’s learn from them. Let’s innovate, be inspired and apply our learnings to the magical world. Prevent another Vol- Voldemort from rising up again. Because you see, he didn’t get so close to winning because he was powerful, but because he used the pre-existing mindsets of the blood purists to his advantage.”

“Even though this war is over, this ideology, this mindset still hasn’t been eradicated yet. That’s why it would be so easy for another person to take up the position of a Dark Lord. So, let’s not rest on our laurels waiting for another person to come around to fix our society, or wait in ignorance until another war blindsides us. Let’s take up that responsibility for ourselves,” Veronica implored softly.

Remus was left breathless, because this woman was absolutely right. Was he going to wait around, not living, just surviving until… until what? He didn’t have any goals, any passion to pursue? Besides, he owed it to his friends didn’t he? All those that didn’t make it till the end of the war, like Wormtail, all those whose families have been separated by death, like James, Lily and Harry, and all those alive but left tormented by the ghosts of the war, like himself. 

It felt daunting to agree to this. Remus had long since accepted his fate in this world. He had never once thought about challenging the norm, because the norm had been around for centuries. So, how could he succeed in changing it? But something in his gut told him that agreeing to this would be the best thing to do. Besides, it’s not like there’s anyone left to get hurt because of him should his condition be potentially exposed if he agreed to this. Thus, Remus inhaled deeply and said, “Alright. I agree to go along with your plans.”

Veronica’s face morphed into one of shock, as if she hadn’t expected him to agree this easily. As she started to reply back to him, a small ‘ding!’ sound came from Veronica’s covered arm sleeve, where both of their eyes had zeroed onto. It must have been from her wand given that most wand holsters are fastened to one’s forearms.

“I’m sorry, that was my alarm charm. I have to meet someone else at midnight. I’m afraid I have to leave now. I’m extremely glad that you have agreed. Thank you, Mr.Lupin,” she spoke, with disbelief still apparent in her voice.

“Call me Remus, please,” he replied. Throughout this very fascinating conversation, Remus had genuinely forgotten to allow Veronica to call him by his first name. Veronica nodded in agreement.

“We’ll have to meet up soon, to plan out how to progress from here. After all, Rome wasn’t built in a day, right?” Veronica asked, as she stood up from the couch and grabbed her winter coat.

Remus snorted and replied, “You secretly love to make puns, don’t you. First, there was the one about my last name, which I was too shocked to appreciate and now with my first name?” In Roman mythology, Romulus and Remus are twin brothers whose story tells the events that led to the founding of the city of Rome.

“I have no clue what you're talking about,” Veronica responded, her face neutral and eyes widened to convey a more innocent look.

Hah, as if Remus would believe that. The witch was way too smart to make such remarks unintentionally. She probably couldn’t resist the opportunity handed to her on a silver platter. After Veronica had given him her contact details and they hashed out some of the finer details, she waved goodbye and apparated a few steps away from his house.

Remus closed his front door, lips still curled into a slight smile. He slowly closed his eyes and gently pressed his forehead against the cold wood of the door and deeply exhaled.

The grandfather clock chimed twelve times, indicating the dawn of a new day and a new year. With his sensitive hearing he could faintly hear the fireworks going off at the nearest town.

“James, Lily, I’ll try my best to make changes. Not because I feel wronged or want justice for myself, but because I can’t be there for Harry when he’s growing up. So, I’ll do my best. I’ll try my hardest to create a better, more progressive world waiting for your son when he comes back. 

“Happy New Year,” he whispered against the fragile wood.

And with that Remus Lupin _moved_.


End file.
